Articles on PR for People

“Us” Versus “Them”: The Tribalism Trap

 
One of the great contradictions of human psychology is our notorious double-standard with respect to how we treat others, as a rule.  If a person is viewed as being one of “us” – a member of our group, or our religious faith, or our nation – we are predisposed to cooperate with them, to empathize with their hardships, come to their assistance if needed, and sometimes even sacrifice our lives for them.  Because they are members of our “tribe”, we view them as sharing a common fate.  

How to Nurture a Democracy

A democratic political system can survive only if it is embedded in a society that allows it to thrive.  Rather like the three essentials for nurturing healthy plants (good soil, adequate water and sunlight), there are at least three nurturing elements that a society must provide, in order for democracy to prosper -- beyond the foundation of a healthy economy.  These elements are (1) the rule of law, (2) elections that are perceived as fair (and where the outcomes are respected), and (3) a political discourse that honors veracity and condemns lying and liars.


Global Governance from the Ground Up: A Biological Perspective

The most obvious and universally accepted goal for global governance -- to keep (or restore) the peace between nations -- is far too narrowly framed within the context of the emerging global challenges of population growth, climate change, environmental degradation, resource depletion, and resurgent nationalism.   The ecological and political underpinnings for global governance and social peace in our increasingly interdependent global...


The “Killer Ape”: Is Warfare in Our Genes? Is It Our Fate?

 Many theorists over the years have embraced idea that collective violence and warfare played a key role in the rise of humankind.


The Bitcoin Bubble

Bitcoins have been getting headlines recently as the price of this mysterious new digital currency – basically a decentralized online payment system – has passed $15,000 each (if converted into a real currency). 


How Will History Judge Donald Trump?

According to the former Arkansas governor and Presidential wannabee, Mike Huckabee, President Trump will rank right up there with Winston Churchill.  Well, Huckabee’s judgment-call about Trump tells you a lot about Huckabee – and about our country.  For starters, his ignorance of history is appalling, and such a glib comparison is, as one commentator put it, “ridiculous”. 


"The Enemy Within"

The idea of an “enemy within” is so gut-grabbing and scare-mongering that it has been used many times for book titles. The title has been used for an entire haunted house full of closet enemies. I would like to nominate yet another candidate for this menagerie of enemies.  It involves a mortal threat to our democracy. It is the combined result of a confluence of corrosive forces, and bad actors – an imperfect storm. What needs to be changed?  The answer is, all of the above.  

 

What the Republican Tax Package Means

The deep purpose of the current (Fall 2017) tax package, poorly disguised behind a smoke-screen of bald-faced lies, is to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor -- and the middle-class, and future generations.  Those of us who already benefit the most from our society will pay less taxes (in some cases billions of dollars less), while taking benefits away from the rest of us.


The Evolution of “Zoon Politikon” (The Political Animal)

Aristotle, it seems, got it right.  Politics may have played a key role in human evolution as the classic primate pattern of male dominance hierarchies shifted to a pattern of consensual leadership for common goals and collective action.


Economic Markets Versus Basic Needs: A Biological Approach to the “Dismal Science”

Going forward, the “bioeconomy” must take precedence.  (An outline for achieving what might be called “the next major transition” in evolution is provided in my forthcoming 2018 book Synergistic Selection: How Cooperation has Shaped Evolution and the Rise of Humankind.)  To borrow a punch-line from the great twentieth century biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky, “the future is not vouchsafed by any law of nature, but it may be striven for.”